The station began in 1952 as the first station in Austin. The station carried programming from the major networks, with a large portion coming from CBS. It carried NBC programs until 1966, the year after what was then known as KHFI signed on, and ABC programs until 1971, when KVUE signed on. In 1995, it became part of the Fox network.

Contents

History

KTBC-TV studios, on East Tenth Street in downtown Austin, circa 1980.

KTBC studios, circa 2008.

Early history

KTBC-TV signed on the air on November 27, 1952, becoming the first television station in Austin and Central Texas. It was originally owned by the Texas Broadcasting Company (from whom the call letters are taken), which was in turn owned by then-SenatorLyndon Johnson and his wife Lady Bird, alongside KTBC radio (590 AM and 93.7 FM). It carried all four major networks at the time: ABC, CBS, NBC and the now-defunct DuMont Television Network. However, it was a primary CBS affiliate. In its early history, it carried roughly 65% of CBS's schedule; NBC and ABC roughly split the remaining coverage in half.[2]

In 1960, the staff of channel 7 produced a film for the Texas Department of Public Safety, entitled Target Austin. The 20-minute film presents the scenario of a nuclear missile strike on the outskirts of Austin and follows the storylines of several characters from the CONELRAD broadcast to the announcement that it is safe to emerge from shelter. The film takes place in Austin, highlighting several iconic locations in the city, and featured an Austin-based cast and crew: including director Gordon Wilkison (of KTBC), narrator Cactus Pryor (also of KTBC), actress Coleen Hardin, and El Rancho restaurant owner Matt Martinez.[3]

KTBC-TV was the only commercial television station in the Austin market until KHFI-TV (channel 42, now KXAN-TV on channel 36) signed on in February 1965. NBC programming continued to be broadcast solely on KTBC-TV for the next 18 months due to contractual obligations. Channel 7 became an exclusive CBS affiliate when all of ABC's programming moved to KVUE (channel 24) when that station first signed on in September 1971.

After Lyndon Johnson became President following the assassination of President John F. Kennedy in 1963, the networks established direct feed lines between KTBC and the various network affiliates in New York, Dallas and Chicago. This facilitated news report relayed while the President was residing either in Austin or at his ranch in Johnson City. The Johnsons maintained a penthouse apartment on the fifth floor of the station, which was wired for camera and sound equipment, and used on occasion for local programming on occasions when the Johnsons were away.

This multi-network capability was first demonstrated live on August 1, 1966, following the UT Tower sniper incident. After Charles Whitman's sniper rampage had been stopped, the primary newsman on the scene, Neal Spelce, presented a wrap-up of the event that was carried on all three networks live later that evening. Although the connections were later replaced by satellite uplink technology, the lines were maintained for contingency usage for several years.

The Johnsons sold KTBC-TV to the Times Mirror Company in 1973, making it a sister station to KDFW-TV in Dallas. The Johnsons kept the KTBC radio properties, and under then-FCC guidelines changed the stations' call letters to KLBJ-AM-FM. In 1994, Times Mirror sold KTBC-TV to Argyle Television.[4]

As a Fox station

In December 1993, Fox outbid CBS to obtain the broadcast rights to football games from the National Football Conference of the NFL.[5][6] In 1994, New World Communications signed a long-term affiliation deal with Fox, which was establishing itself as a major network and was looking for more VHF stations. In late 1994, most New World-owned stations (except for two) dropped their longtime "Big Three" affiliations and switched to Fox.[7][8] On January 19, 1995, New World took over operations of the Argyle stations through time brokerage agreements. Nearly three months later, New World completed its merger with Argyle.

On July 1, 1995, KTBC ended its 43-year affiliation with CBS and became a Fox affiliate; the CBS affiliation went to former Fox station KBVO (channel 42), which changed its call letters to KEYE-TV. As the new Fox affiliate, channel 7 was able to continue as Austin's unofficial "home" of the Dallas Cowboys, because of Fox's rights to the NFC. KTBC had carried most Cowboys games since the team's inception in 1960 by virtue of CBS winning television rights to the NFL in 1956. For many years, it also carried Cowboys preseason games, though those telecasts moved to KEYE in 2006. In its early years as a Fox station, KTBC filled its daytime lineup with talk shows and the nighttime schedule with off-network sitcoms.

The station came under ownership of Fox when New World merged with Fox Television Stations in 1996;[9] this made KTBC the first owned-and-operated network station in the Austin market (KEYE was subsequently purchased by CBS in 2000, KTBC became the only English-language network O&O in the market after CBS sold KEYE to Four Points Media Group in 2007). In the spring of 1997, a rumor that KTBC and Phoenix's KSAZ-TV would be traded to the Belo Corporation in exchange for Seattle's KIRO-TV circulated,[10] but this deal never came to fruition. Belo would acquire rival KVUE and Phoenix's KTVK two years later. In recent years, the station's daytime lineup has leaned away from talk shows in favor of running mostly court shows.

KVC 13

K13VC (branded as "KVC 13") was a low-powered station that had broadcast on VHF channel 13, and was co-owned alongside KTBC. The station signed on the air on July 1, 1995 (concurrent with KTBC's switch to Fox), as an independent station. K13VC maintained a general entertainment format featuring sitcoms, drama series and cartoons, along with several programs that also aired on KTBC. When KTBC joined Fox, it declined the Fox Kids weekday block, although both channel 7 and KVC had simulcast Fox Kids' Saturday morning lineup (KTBC would later drop the block in 1997); KVC continued to air the weekday children's block until Fox discontinued it in 2002, leaving only the Saturday lineup.

In 1998, KVC became a UPN affiliate, inherting the affiliation from the Hill Country Paramount Network operated by LIN TV. When KVC became a UPN affiliate, it also picked up the UPN Kids lineup, which later rebranded as Disney's One Too. The station continued to air UPN programming until August 3, 2000, when Fredericksburg's KBEJ (now KCWX) signed on the air on channel 2. At that time, KVC reverted to independent status, showing syndicated programming, as well as University of Texas and other college sporting events.

K13VC was forced off the air on March 29, 2003,[11] in order to make room for the digital signal of Killeen-based Univision station KAKW-TV.

Analog-to-digital conversion

KTBC shut down its analog signal on June 12, 2009, as part of the FCC-mandated transition to digital television for full-power stations.[13] The station's digital signal relocated from its pre-transition UHF channel 56, which was among the high band UHF channels (52-69) that were removed from broadcasting use as a result of the transition, to its analog-era VHF channel 7 for post-transition operations.